บท 215: Part1: (Warhammer)
Description: When Heresy infests a Cardinal World, it is the duty of the Adeptus Sororitas to purge it from existence, but now they must face the perverse mind of a Demon Prince. Will they stay true to the Emperor, or become corrupted?
Disclaimer: This story is heavily inspired by Ghena "Pleasurable Defeat."
The Emperor alone knew what would emerge from the darkness. Whatever was coming, it shook the ground beneath its thousand-fold treads and endless pounding boots. In the skies above was the result of the planet's tolerance to such behavior. To the desperate and perverse it gave them unwarranted hope and strength to stand against the righteous. To the Sisters of the Golden Shroud, an branch Convent of Our Martyred Ladies, it was a trail of faith.
Demon, witchcraft, and heresy had festered for centuries on the Cardinal World of Arrepentimiento-del-Alma. Growing and spreading like a cancerous sore in part to the efforts of the weak-minded Cardinals that had once ruled this system. Now they no longer had any more power, Canoness Iono de Braquemont of Her Lady of the Golden Shroud, one of the many subsects of the Martyred Lady, saw to that herself, but now she had to lead her forces against the great enemy without the Cardinals' interfering. Most of the guardsmen stationed on the planet, including the College of Cardinal's own private armies, had already turned from the Emperor's Light, destroying, murdering and killing as they pleased. Those guardsmen and pious forces who remained faithful were already overrun or on the verge of collapse. All communication to and from Arrepentimiento-del-Alma had been sabotaged in the early days of the rebellion, leading the brave forces of the Alma Repentor Guards and the Golden Shroud to fight with the equipment they had.
Iono had fought for the Emperor on a dozen worlds, against a dozen enemies that besmirch His divine will, but now her home was under siege by the same civilians she had once sworn to guide. The mutated forces gathered in the square before her bloodied forces. The Citadel of Saint Jessica was the last true bastion of Holy resistance left and she and her sisters would be damned if they allowed this heretical filth to take it.
"Sisters!" She rose her power sword, Divine Truth, in the air. Golden flames encased the holy blade and caused the air around it to crackle and ripple. "The enemy is at our doors! We fight for the Emperor! We fight for Saint Jessica! We fight for our very souls! Do not falter! Do not stop until either you or the mutated filth lay dead on the ground! For the Emperor!"
"For the Emperor!" They responded as one.
Iono leaded the charged, her fellow sisters to follow likewise. Seraphim squads took to air, engaging the demons that controlled the skies while below Retributors used heavy bolters, flamers, and melta-guns to suppress the enraged cultists who charged at their Canoness. Those unfortunate enough to make it through the heavy barrage had the unfortunate to face the bolt rounds and flames from the normal Sisters of Battle, or the whip and serrated teeth from the Sister Repentia.
"Sisters!" Iono cried out as she cut down another cultist. "Fight by my side!"
Iono yearned for battle. The years of being stationed at the abbeys of Arrepentimiento-del-Alma had almost driven the battle-hungry Canoness to the breaking point. All the tedious years of dealing with inept Cardinals and dealing with their wicked ways had now led her to this moment. Now she could finally sedate these feelings on the mortal enemy of the God-Emperor, and with her personal retinue of Celestians fighting by her side once more.
"You became too excited again, Iono." The Celestian Superior, Resira de Saulx, said as she kicked away a demonette who tried to sink its lobster-like claw into the Canoness's neck. It, and several more behind it, were soon melted by a blast from Resira's multi-melta, Mutant-Melter.
Every sister, including those of her own retinue, were not allowed to call their Canoness by her first name, however Resira and Iono had had a long history together. She was the exception to the rule.
Iono smiled as she set a filthy robed cultist aflame with her volcano pistol. "This is no different than the rebellion on Hellion V."
"You and I remember Hellion V completely differently."
Blue fire scorched past them, incinerating the horrid demons who thought they could outflank the Canoness and Celestian Superior. Two Celestians carrying identical combi bolter-melta guns came up to support their two leaders. The twins, Sister Aliah and Sister Celora, fought as one in perfect synchronization. Supporting each other and clearing a path through the unclean to reach their Canonoess.
"My Lady," they both kneeled at the same time. "We are pleased to have found you so soon."
"As am I to see you. Report. Where is Sister Samantha?" the Canoness asked, looking for the newest member of her Celestian squad.
"Um…." The two identical sisters looked at each other as they realized their newest banner barer had gotten lost in the fray… again.
Samantha was not only the newest but also youngest Sister to be recruited into the services of Canoness del Braquemont's personal retinue. She was brought in after the veteran Sister Verina de Monnet was killed by an Ork Choppa on Heart's Spring, and leaving Samantha, her most veteran's acolyte, to take her place. Since Samantha had very little time to prove herself in front of her Sisters, Iono had designated her for the squad's Imagifer. Though being the un-armed one in heavy armor squad would be unappealing to all, Samantha had the survival skills of a cockroach and the ability to find someone else to do the slaughtering in her stead.
"I'm here! I'm here!" A Celestian, carrying the holy standard of the Golden Shroud of Saint Jessica, jumped over the elongated neck of a fallen Chaos steed. She arrived, doubled over and panting hard, but she still held the banner high. Samantha had yet to grow accustomed to the heavier Celestian armor.
"Where have you been Sister?" Iono asked as she silenced a hooded madman down the middle.
"I am sorry, Canoness. I was following Sister Aliah and Sister Celora, and I got turned around…." The youngest Celestian could feel each of her sisters' judging glare. "B-b-but I managed to get here… With some help."
A purple and gold robed cultist fell on the ground near the Canoness's retinue. On its back stood a scarred woman wearing the rags of a Sister Repentia with an Eviscerator chainsword lodged in its back.
"Sister Kerriah." Iono nodded to the grizzled Repentia.
"Canoness," Kerriah said as she worked her chainsword out of the heretic's back. Normally, the mere act of speaking would have earned the Repentia twenty lashes across the back with a neuro-whip, but either her Sister-Superior was busy elsewhere or… "The Chapel is lost; our Sisters refuse the route, but it is coming."
It was over. Arrepentimiento-del-Alma was lost. She and her sisters were going to die here, but she would be damned if they did not go out as martyrs. They would be avenged, and they would bring down as many heretics as they could until then. Stubber gun fire made pinging noises as they ricochet harmlessly off her white-gold power armor. The Celestian squad and one Repentia turned to face their enemy, a mob of mad cultists yelling and screaming their unholy profanities at them.
The sisters unloaded a hail of bolter and melta fire to cut down the lightly armed mad men but there would be more to come, drawn in by the bloodshed and thundering boom of battle. Almost as if in response they heard a terrifying roar from the whole hive. Such a noise would have shaken most men, but they were Adepta Sororitas - Sisters of Battle - the valued Daughters of the Emperor and chosen military might of the Ecclesiarchy. They would not falter so easily.
"It seems our end is here, Caroness." Resira said in her normal blunt tone as she eyed the last stained-glass mosaic of Saint Jessica burning away the heretics that once plagued this planet. Looking at her Canoness, she was not surprised to see her face empty of emotion, but she caught a faint hint of grim delight in the woman's steel-grey eyes.
Ahead of them Iono could see large shapes in the distance moving amongst the rubble. The combined mass caused the rocks and rubble around them to tremble slightly with each hard pounding. They were the elite force, Chaos Terminators with demonic war beasts at their heels. The demons were horrific, multi-limbed creatures, that were chained to their master's armored fists. The lumbering Terminators were in a mock design of the types worn by the Legio Astartes, some going as far back to the Heresy. Their weapons, if it could even be called that, were oversized parodies of instruments or long-poles with iron-thorn claws at the ends.
In the air, Iono could make the shapes of winged beings. Naked to all, all having perverse exaggerated proportion of human beauty in sheer mockery of their Holy Saints.. They moved with unholy grace, crisscrossing through flames and ordinance with ease, plucking fully armored sisters up like toy soldiers to carrying them back to wherever they came from. All of them fought back, whether it be from bolter, blade or fist, they made their Caroness proud. But even as they killed or broke free from one, two more would catch them as they fell, tearing away their armor in the process. These perverse monstrosities could not have the decency to just kill their captives, but to shame and humiliate them as well was something that the Caroness could not abide to. Her remaining Sisters would not go out that way. They would go out as Martyrs. They would go out in flames.
Canoness Iono de Braquemont offered a small prayer to the Emperor and Saint Jessica as her sisters were setting up for what would be their final, glorious moments. Resira hefted her heavy multi-melta up on a broken arm that once belong to the statue of Saint Jessica while Sister Aliah and Sister Celora moved to either side to cover her flanks. Remaining sisters were doing likewise, using the rubble to suit their needs. Kerriah tested the efficiency of her chainsword and moved close to her Canoness. Samantha stood behind the rest of her Celestian sisters. She stood tall and planted the end into the ground, allowing the golden sigil to unfurl. Holy golden light surrounded and rejuvenated the sisters closest to her.
In a few moments, they had before their deaths they made their peace with the Emperor and Caroness Iono recited the Battle-prayer to her sisters.
"A morte perpetua," Iono called out.
"Domine, libra nos!" Her Sisters responded in kind.
"That thou wouldst bring them only death,"
"That thou shouldst spare none,"
"That thou shouldst pardon none!"
"We beseech thee, destroy them!"
Her voice and words gave power to her fellow faithful servants of the God-Emperor and they set their eyes upon their enemies who's cries of pleasure and pain echoing through the ruins as they approached their doomed sisters.
"My Sisters, it has been my honor to command you." Iono said as she shot the first Terminator who got too close. White gold flames encased the heavily armored traitor, causing its demonic plate to melt and run like cheap wax. It became fused to the ground that it stood on, but his cries of anguish only bolstered his comrades.
"And our honor to follow you," Her Celestians replied.
The depraved Traitors and their demon allies were like a dark torrent that swept across the planet, smashing battlements and last stands as they went. Though they fought bravely with holy zeal, the Sisters of the Golden Shroud were consumed in a matter of minutes, unable to make themselves into martyrs. Iono slashed, impaled, immolated, and cursed out the heretic and their depraved God, but even she was consumed by the void.
Consciousness, when it returned, did not come in a slow trickle or gentle wave like waking from sleep. It forced itself into Iono's mind as a knife stabbing through her. Her throat was uncomfortably dry, with a dull taste of copper in it, and she tried to swallow but she had no saliva to relieve the irritation. Her first real breath of air left her coughing and retching until her chest was sore, as if she had not used her lungs for an unknown amount of time.
She thought she was dead.
By all means she should have been dead.
Iono had borne witness to an invasion by the denizens of the Warp, fought, and were overcome by them. She and her Sisters were now dead and were to be judged by their Father, the God-Emperor. So why did she have a sinking feeling in her stomach that she would be robbed of this grandiose reward?
Iono struggled to roll onto her side. She had not felt this weak since she was a novice. Her body was sore and tired that every breath was a laboring toil.
Iono's head felt like it was tearing itself apart from the way it pulsed from within. Mental exercises allowed Iono to push past all the pain, and with sheer will, and a small prayer until she was sat upright. The Caroness blinked and tried to take stock. The first thing she check was what she had on her possession, and her findings made her heart sink. Her armor was gone, leaving her in the golden robes of her order. Any weapon she might have had on her was missing, which was no surprise, and even her holy tome was taken from her. All the kill-needles and memory-metal knives hidden through the pages, as well as the God Emperor's wisdom, would have been a great relief at a time like this.
The Canoness surveyed the area around her and immediately spotted the slumped forms of her fellow Celestian Sisters, all of them showing signs that they were very much alive.
"… Iono? Is that you?" One of her Sister groaned. Iono attempted to move towards her squad, but in her current state resulted in her reduced to crawling over the lush carpet that tickled any bare skin it came into contact with. If only the rest of the Convents could see her pathetic state now. The other Orders back on Ophelia VII would be gossiping about this for years.
Reaching the first body she knew it was Resira due to her size and weight, she was the biggest of the squad by at least a full head above everybody else and certainly the most muscled out of all of them.
"Resira, how are you feeling?"
The woman groaned out a reply and with Iono's assistance managed to sit up. "Fine… I think. My throat is so dry though."
"Mine as well, unfortunately, we don't have water."
Resira let out another groan, annoyance this time, patting the empty pockets of her robes. "And I don't think I have any firewater on me."
An involuntary cringe went through Iono's body. The thought of Resira's concoction of residue from the multi-melta's fuel tanks and a few secret ingredients she picked up from the Cadians was both disgusting and now a sorely missed luxury. In the next few moments, the whole squad was awoken, and all were in a similar state, weak and needing water. All personal armor, weapons and affects were taken from them, leaving the squad in their robes, or tattered rags in Kerrish
With only minimal strength at their disposal, they observed their surroundings and were taken aback at how abnormal it was.
It was well furnished, whomever this room belonged to clearly had an eye for the aesthetics and the perverse. Statues of scantily clad women of bipedal life-forms surrounded the rooms, each one with different proportions and in a different erotic pose. Plush carpets lay under them, giving off patterns that changing subtly with every passing moment. They were slightly concerned when the carpeting moved and seemed to hold them in place or when the statues seemed to move when not focused on.
"Does anyone remember what happened?" Iono asked as they sat at the center, as far away from the statues as possible.
"The unpure attacked us …. that all I can remember." Replied Samantha. It was hard to believe that the fighting in defense of the Chapel had been her first experience of true combat.
"The cultists poured into us. We held. Then the heavier traitors came. Standard unholy tactics… if there could be such a thing." Aliah remembered for them. Celora was resting her head on her twin's lap, the headache was affecting her more than the others.
"With Terminators… and demons… think I got one…" Celora groan. Her sister petted her dark brown hair, trying her best to soothe her head.
"You did. Saw the creature's eye explode. Nice aiming." Resira said, pride evident in her voice.
"Wasn't aiming… the whole thing was an eye…"
The other Sisters laughed at this, but it was short lived. Each one had the melancholic feeling that something was not right. All their stories coincided with the other, but there were glaring gaps in-between. Iono had thought herself dead, so what were they doing here? Why were they still alive?
"Doubtless Chaos has a hand in this," She said more to herself than her Celestians.
The thought made her ill, being killed was final, but being captured alive by the forces of Chaos was a far greater torment than death. Iono began to recite another litany to the Emperor for guidance but was stopped mid-way when she and her sisters came to the realization that they were no longer alone.
A laugh, a deep, throaty and sensual echoed in the room. Iono felt goose-pimple spread all over her skin.
"Your False-Emperor will not help you here." The voice stated.
Another being had simply appeared in the room with them. The intruder took the shape of a human male and was average height but still physically imposing. Long-limbed and lean, his appearance displayed every muscle and sinew that was expertly crafted and honed to perfection. He wore very little but a dark purple and gold loincloth that flowed towards the ground. The being's face was.... odd. In fact, he looked almost, surprisingly, normal. There was no twisted, mutilated or scarred skin, no rows of sharp pointy teeth that Iono and her sisters had expected. Instead, the man was…
'Handsome' the thought suddenly appeared in her mind and she crushed it immediately. His facial features seemed to be carved from stone by the greatest artisans in existence. He carried an imperious nose well and his angular cheekbones carved down towards a flinty jaw.
The only features that were off-putting about the man were his skin tone and his eyes. His skin was a light purple, that seemed to be both regal and inviting, while also not baring one imperfection or marring blemish. While his eyes were illuminated, and the irises had a ring of purple around them going from light to dark as they made their way to the pupil. Then, there was the eye tattoo on his forehead that seemed to be staring at her and her sisters. Looking at his eyes Iono suddenly felt heat rising throughout her body and she immediately looked away, muttering a prayer as she did so.
He smiled, not unkindly but in a way, that caused Iono's heart to speed up. "As I was saying, your corpse Emperor cannot help you here. You are just wasting time, energy, and words."
Resira and Kerriah growled at him and struggled to stand. Resira wore the heaviest armor of them all, but Kerriah wore tattered robes. Surely, she could have risen to challenge him.
"Who are you, vile filth?! Where are we?!"
He smiled once more, and again it was deep and relaxing and caused their hearts to race again. "Oh, yes. Where are my manners? I am Arphus Ziemras, and I welcome you to my world."
The sisters glared at him with intense and burning hatred as the managed to stagger on shaky legs. Arphus simply looked impressed and gave them another smile.
"I am Canoness Iono de Braquemont of the Order of the Golden Shroud and I demand you release my Sisters and I at once!" Iono summoned up all her strength and conviction standing firm, faced Arphus with an icy glare.
"Ninety-two," Arphus said with a slight chuckle. Rage suddenly filled Iono as she lunged for the human-like being. As her armored fists were mere centimeters from his face, everything went started to spin out of control and go black.
Iono woke again, more peacefully than before, in a softly lit chamber. The bed beneath her was comfortable, and the light blanket was all she needed in the warm room. A grand set of windows were set in the wall across from her, displaying pure blackness beyond.
Iono glanced about the chamber to find herself alone. She had been stripped of her ceremonial robes and was dressed in a sheer stolla. Sitting up, she saw that the chamber was quaint, but still had the unmistakable smell of Chaos. There were new stone statues at each corner of the room, human females in design but bearing proportions that would be a detriment then useful. In the center of the room was a small table that had some goblets of water on them. Iono forgot herself for one moment, her own weakness taking control, and she started to drink the content of cup. Every time she was finished with one a new, full one would just appear. The water was cool and sweet tasting, she could feel her weakness in her body vanishing, turning into a pleasant sort of lightness as if she was floating.
The hairs on her neck suddenly stood up once more. Iono was no longer alone. She whirled, the fact she was nearly naked and unarmed was apparent to now, but there was very little she could do about it. It was him.
There was no door or any other way in or out of the room. How in the Emperor's name was he able to enter?
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Arphus said, taking a step towards her.
She dropped into an attack-ready position. "Stay away," she warned.
He raised an eyebrow and took another step, but her raised fists stopped him. "You're willing to fight me?"
"With holy fury, I will defeat you," she promised. "I will not be raped."
"So much untapped passion, misguided as it is." He chuckled, which caused Iono's heart to stir once more and a feeling deep inside her to stir.
"I don't rape, my lovely Canoness, I can assure you of that." His voice dripped with confidence. "Not, unless, you want me too."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Hardly." She answered. Her body was getting warm. Uncontrollably warm.
Arphus took another step towards her. Iono side addled just to find that Arphus had just simply appeared closer to her. His gaze sharpened, even his tattooed eye focused on her, and his size seemed to grow before her.
He began to circle her, the same way a predator would play with its prey. She scowled whenever his hands went towards his hips.
"That stays on!" She demanded.
He only chuckled. "Whatever you say."
Iono's body was getting so uncomfortably hot, and her throat was dry once more. She felt wonderful when Arphus approached her, yet ashamed of herself. She had stayed pure throughout her upbringing, never once caving into the pleasures of the flesh that had taken many of her sisters in their naïve days. Now her she felt like someone lit a raging inferno in the core soul that was continuously fed by the demon in front of her.
Arphus took advantage of her momentary distraction and had once more appeared mere centimeters from Iono's face. Their bodies were now intertwined, he had his hand one on her hip whilst the other was slowly caressing her face.
"You are very beautiful, Iono." The Chaos spawn said with a lustful whisper as he continued to stare at her. Iono should have felt reviled, should have felt sick, she should have bashed her head into his tattooed face. What she should not have done was lean into him, if only so slightly. "You should smile more often, I believe it will add to it."
The mere touch of Arphus induced a pleasant coolness and she so wanted him to put her out of her misery, to quench the flames. Arphus ran his knuckles against her soft cheek and Iono resisted the urge to lean into the hand. It was difficult though. Extremely, painfully difficult. The heat was unbearable now. She wished she could tear off the transparent stolla to feel full skin-on-skin contact. Arphus' hand seemed to give off such a pleasant coolness that it made wherever he touched tingle a little.
"Just… one… small… touch… only a touch…" A voice that could have been hers or someone else's pulsed in her head. Apart of her wanted to give in. To be sinful. To know the feelings that her more wayward sisters had felt. But as she began to angle her head towards the hand but then stopped. "NO! I cannot! I will not! Emperor and Saint Jessica preserve me, I must endure!"
Arthus moved his hand to brush away stray pieces of her white hair which had matted to her head due to sweat. "You still wish for a decayed corpse and a dead woman over living flesh? That will not last long."
He separated himself from Iono, returning to his normal size and his tattoo returning to just a simple design of ink.
"This room will provide anything that you might need," Arphus said as he slowly withdrew from Iono. "I will send in some servants later if you wish for some company."
"And that's it?" Iono said, both confused and slightly disappointed. "You aren't going to take me?"
"If I wanted to take you, you would be mine already. I'm bigger, stronger and much more powerful and I can easily make you submit. But where is the fun in that?" Arphus began to morph into the wall. "I'll take you when you want me."
Iono gritted her teeth and sneered, "That will never happen."
"Not yet, but soon."
Iono stood there, in her new prison cell. Disgusted with how weak she was, and worried about the fate of her other sisters.
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